Playoff hopes still in tact for Bulldogs

Published: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 05:39 PM.

Pettis — who downplayed the past — is determined to focus on the present.

“We can’t worry about that (the losing streak),” he said. “Like I told the kids today, they can’t control what has happened the last 30 years. All we can control is what happens right now.

I don’t care about streaks. We just have to go out there and play and take care of what we have to do. To me, it’s another team on our schedule and we have to show up and play.”

Pettis isn’t concerned about the last 30 years, but he is concerned about the 2012 Eagles.

“They are so big up front,” Pettis said. “They’ve got a real big offensive line and they do good job at quarterback with their two quarterbacks. I call them ‘big quarterback’ (Andrew Mitchell) and ‘little quarterback’ (Aston Hooker).

“They play both of them and both of them do things that concern us. They run the counter very well and they run the zone-read real well. So they do some things that give you problems and they do some things where the get their kids the ball out in space.”

Niceville will use a familiar 5-2 defense, which is no surprise to Pettis.

Crestview and the Eagles kick things off 7 p.m. at Jack Foster Stadium and Bulldog coach Kevin Pettis said he’ll have enough concerns with the team on the other side of the field to keep him from thinking about what is happening in Fort Walton Beach.

“All we can be concerned about is our game,” he said. “We can’t be concerned about all the other stuff. We have to be concerned about playing Niceville.

“We can’t worry about the other game. We have to worry about us because if we don’t beat Niceville, it doesn’t matter what happens in the other game.”

The last time the Bulldogs (4-5, 2-2) beat the Eagles was 1982. Last year, Niceville (4-3. 2-2) beat Crestview 20-10.

Pettis — who downplayed the past — is determined to focus on the present.

“We can’t worry about that (the losing streak),” he said. “Like I told the kids today, they can’t control what has happened the last 30 years. All we can control is what happens right now.

I don’t care about streaks. We just have to go out there and play and take care of what we have to do. To me, it’s another team on our schedule and we have to show up and play.”

Pettis isn’t concerned about the last 30 years, but he is concerned about the 2012 Eagles.

“They are so big up front,” Pettis said. “They’ve got a real big offensive line and they do good job at quarterback with their two quarterbacks. I call them ‘big quarterback’ (Andrew Mitchell) and ‘little quarterback’ (Aston Hooker).

“They play both of them and both of them do things that concern us. They run the counter very well and they run the zone-read real well. So they do some things that give you problems and they do some things where the get their kids the ball out in space.”

Niceville will use a familiar 5-2 defense, which is no surprise to Pettis.

“Here’s the thing about Niceville: they do what they do,” he said. “They don’t change, and they do a very good job of getting kids into position to make plays. We are going to have to do a very good job of getting a hat on a hat.

“They are going to do some things to take (tailback) Micah (Reed) away from us. I think we are going to throw the ball enough to make them respect us some. They do a great job, defensively, of taking people’s best stuff away and our guys have to be ready for that.”

On a positive note, “We are about as healthy as you can be (in) Week 10,” Pettis said. “Emmanuel (Reed) had a 60-something yard run the other night (against Mosley), so it’s the first time he’s been healthy in a while. We should be close to 100 percent.”